Method of and apparatus for increasing the efficiency of printing machines



Sept. 12, 1961 H. ZEIMER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING THEEFFICIENCY OF PRINTING MACHINES Filed April '7, 1958 lNl/ENTOR HARRYZE/MER ATTORNEY United States Patent at Li 2,999 455 METHOD or ANDAPrAnATUs non nscnnasnso THE nFFicrnNcr or PRINTING MACHINES HarryZeimer, 47 Rue Guy Moquet, Paris XVII, France Filed Apr. 7, 1958, Ser.No. 726,915 15 Claims. or. 101-225 The instant invention relates to amethod of, and apparains for increasing the efficiency of printingmachines,

particularly high speed web printing presses in which printing is uponcontinuous paper strips supplied to the press from rolls of paper.

An object of the invention is to reduce the material and time lossesresulting from a rupture of the paper web fed from the roll during itspassage through the press.

A further object is temporarily to reinforce the paper supplied from theroll thereof during its passage through the printing press to eliminate,and, as a minimum, to decrease the occurrences of ruptures of the paperduring the printing as the paper web passes through the press.

Still another object is to provide devices in a rotary printing pressfor applying the reinforcement to the paper as the paper is fed into thepress, and other devices to remove the reinforcement after the paper hasbeen printed, which latter devices are positioned at or near the outputend of the press.

It will be recalled that when the paper strip tears apart during theprinting, even though the press is stopped, usually automatically, asquickly as possible after a tear occurs, the printing is defective foran extended length beyond the tear, depending mainly on the speed atwhich the paper is printed and the inertia to be overcome in step pingthe press. Not only is an appreciable length of printed paper before andafter the rupture lost, but printing is interrupted for an intervalcomprising the time taken for the press to stop, the time to remove anycrumpled paper and rethread the supply paper roll into the press, andthe time to bring the press to speed on restarting. Particularly in theprinting of metropolitan newspapers is such wastage and stoppage seriousin that it runs into really high annual monetary figures and results innot meeting dead lines for issues of the newspapers which may, andgenerally do, result in further loss from papers, which were printed butdelivered late, remaining .unsold.

. path through the press is transmitted the lengthof the paper strip.However, as is known, paper generally does not lend itself too readily,because of its relatively low tensile strength, to transmission of theforces involved in interconnecting powerful drive elements with .idlerrollers and cylinders.

It is not only that paper is but poorly resistant to tearing, but alsoit lacks homogeneity and has numerous localized defects. Not only doinherent defects in the paper itself result in the adjacent and soundregions of the paper being subjected to an increased share of thepropelling force, but subjection to increased forces of sound paperportions may also result from defects in rolls of perfectly sound paper,such as 'rolls which have been unevenly wound at the mill or perhapswith creases or wrinkles within the roll, or rolls which have been cutor bruised in transit, or have developed a flat side in theircylindrical surface in storage, or have become Wet, or were wet and havedried leaving rip- ;ples and Wrinkles, etc. The strain imposed on thesound and tension transmitting longitudinal portions of the paper stripunder such, and other conditions, such as uneven or ,unbalanced drivingrollers, may become more than the ice sound portions can bear and resultin tearing the paper strip apart.

i accomplish the foregoing, and other, objects of my invention byproviding at least one reinforcing band at one edge of the paper stripas it passes through the printing press. Preferably a reinforcing stripis applied to each edge of the paper strip and is so positioned that itwill not interfere with any part of the paper surface Within the usualprinting area thereof. Each reinforcing strip may be a thin, narrowstrip of supple, synthetic or natufal material, for example rubber,metal, webbing, etc. One type of such strip is coated on one of thewider longitudinal surfaces with an adhesive and is caused to adhere tothe unprinted edge region of, for example, /8 width, at each lateraledge of the paper, a substantial portion of the reinforcing stripoverhanging, that is, extending beyond, the edge of the paper strip. Inthe alternative, each reinforcing strip may consist of two layers orstrips, of metal or other pliable and supple material, superimposed oneach other and joined to each other the entire length of the strips atone side, and forming, at the other side, a pair of longitudinal lipswhich can be opened to receive the edge of the paper strip and whichclose upon the sure correct guidance of the strips.

paper strip edge to clamp it firmly between the lips. Or a single stripof, for example, rubber of appropriate thickness may have a cut thelength of the strip into one of its lateral faces to a depth so toreceive and clamp the paper strip edge.

Each reinforcing strip is applied tothe cooperating edge of the paperweb at the press input by appropriate roller systems guiding thereinforcing strip into proper position relative to the edge of the paperweb, and by means for producing intimate contact between the paper weband the reinforcing strip. The intimate contact producing means may bepressure actuated when. the reinforcing strip is of the adhesive coatedtype, and may be of the lip spreader and release and clamping type wherethe strip is of the alternative type above described. The lip spreaderis preferably in the form of a cuspate roller with a circumferentialcusp at about half the height of the roller, the roller being rotatableabout an axis perpendicular to the direction of the feed of the web andpositioned laterally of the web so that the cusp engages between thelips of the two-layer strip to separate them a sufficient amount topermit the marginal portion of the web to pass between the lips,whereupon the strip is guided laterally itself to the Web with the lipsover the adjacent marginal portion thereof, the lips then closing undertension as the web and strip leave the region of strip application'andclamping the web marginal portion between them.

The paper web and the applied reinforcing strips remain in intimatecontact through the press to the output or delivery side thereof by thetension advancing the web through the press. The reinforcing strips orbands, while subject to all or a part of the driving force and inertiaof the various elements assuring the transport of the paper web,nevertheless have, and should have, no contact with any such element. Tomake certain that this is the case, such web transporting elements aredesigned, or modified in their design, to permit free and facile passageof the reinforcing strips and at the same time, preferably, to as- Atthe delivery end of the press, the reinforcing strips are removed fromthe Web by means which differ in accordance with the particularreinforcing strips utilized. Where the reinforcing strip is coated witha weak adhesive, the separating means may comprise a roller pulling thestrip from the Web and imparting a path to the strip at an angle to thatof the web. In the alternative, a wedge may be positioned in theircombined path at their interface to peel the reinforcing strip from theweb. If the reinforcing strip has a coating of strongly adheringadhesive, the separating Patented Sept. 12, 1961 region, entering thelip side of the strip, raises the lip from that face of the web so thatthe web is unclamped and the reinforcing strip released. The releasedstrip is guided about a roller laterally of thepath of theweb andpositioned opposite such one face of the web.

Where reinforcing strip separating means of the' first' and last typesare utilized, the unimpaired removed reinforcing strip may be reusedindefinitely and preferably is returned at once upon separation to themeans applying itto the web in a continuous cycle. With all'threeseparating means above discussed, the reinforcing strips afterseparation from the web may be wound on rolls or-bob bins and reused.Where the separated reinforcing strips include the marginal web portion,as in the case of the strip with the strongly adherent adhesive, beforereuse of 1 marginal portion of the web.

rollers 12, the web is conveyed to the output side of the press at whichit travels substantially horizontally to, and between, a pair ofpressure drive and sliver cutting rollers 13 and 14. In advance ofrollers 13 and 14, in the direction of travel of the web, a pair ofpressure rollers and 16 are provided for the purpose hereinafter ex-.plained.

Two types of reinforcingstrips-are shown inFIGURES 3 through 5, both ofwhich are shown in plan view in FIGURE 3, in which two reinforcingstrips are applied to web 2, onereinforcing strip individual to eachlateral The dimensions of, the.

. strips are severely exaggerated in HGURES 3 throughj the strip theadhering marginal web portion is first re? moved by obvious means, orthe other marginal portion of,-the strip usedthe next time, andthereafter both marginal web portions adhering thereto removedv beforethe strip is used a third time.

It will be noted that while the web, after the. reinforcing, strips areremoved, may tear as the results of'defects in, or injury to, the web,such tears are localized to the region at, or beyond, the output of theprinting press per se. Hence, there can be no loss of extensive printingtime since the printing is completed, and only the cutting and foldingoperations still remain.

The foregoing objects and features, aswell as others,

will more readily appear from the following illustrative embodiments ofmy invention in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a highly simplified overall diagram of a high speed rotaryprinting press -with the added mechanism to practice the method ofapplying reinforcing strips tothe paper web and removing therefrom inaccordance with my instant invention;

' FIGURE 2 is a bottornview detail ofthe input side of the press at theregion where a reinforcing strip of the adhesive coated type is appliedto the web;

FIGURE 3 is a planview of aportion of apaper web with reinforcing stripsapplied to both lateral marginal regions in accordance with myinvention;

FIGURE 4'is anelevational section of FIGURE3 with adhesive coatedreinforcing strips;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational section of FIGURE 3 for two-layer clampingreinforcing strips;

FIGURE 6 is a simplified perspective of;the cuspated roller and lateralguide for applying the two-layer clamping reinforcing strip to the web;and

FIGURE 7 is a detail of FIGURE 1 at the output side of the press showingthe separating means for the reinforcing strip coated with a stronglyadhering adhesive.

Referring to the drawing, the roll of paper 1- isrotated to feed the web2/ into the printing press 3, which is shown greatly simplifiedandmerely by some of its printing, pressure and idler rollers. The webtension is controlled by the tension controlling roller 4 cooperatingwith the driving system 5, the web being fed by idlers, including roller6 for example, to the driven printing roller 7, and its cooperatingdriven pressure roller 8, for printing on one face of the web. Then theweb is transported by a system of rollers to the driven printingroller10, and its cooperating pressure roller '11, for printing on theopposite face of the web; whereupon, by a system of idler relative toweb width for greater facility and clearness. of illustration. Thus theweb width may well be of the order of inches,tl1 e width of thereinforcingstripsof the order of two inches, andv the overlap of eachstrip and the marginal region of the web of the order of 4;. inch inwidth.

Reinforcing strips. 17 of FIGURE 4 have a coating of weakly or stronglyadherentadhesive 18 coated on the face thereof which is to be applied tothe web. Adhesive coating 13 may extend over the entire width ofthestrip or may be applied only atone marginal region thereof as shown,or at both marginal regions. The reinforcing strips 19 of FIGURE 5 maycomprise two layers 26 and 21 superimposedon each; other and joinedlongi; tudinaily their entire length atone edge region; thereof 22, theother edgeregion of the layers, forming a of lips 23 and 214. In analternative, not shown, this lappinga narrow lateral marginal region ofthe Web,- as shown in FIGURE 2. A pressure roller 25 pressesssuchoverlapping region of strip 17 against the web as thelatter passes overroller 6. In its passage beyond roller 6; the web thus carries the stripalong with it, and thus the ad= hering strip is maintained inintimatecontact with web throughout its passage througlrthe' press'andundertension to beyond the pressu-rerollers 15 and 16. 'Beyond suchpressureroller pair, 15: and 16, but before theweb enters between drivepressure rollers13 and 14, the leading'end of strip 17 is separated fromthe web in the system diagram of FIGURE 1; assuming here that theadhesive coating 18 is relatively weak and permits of peeling the stripfrom the Web without applying a force which might tear the edge of theweb. Such separation of the leading end ofstrip 17 may be manually,or-by a wedge, not shown; positioned just beyond pressurerollers-15and16 with its narrow edge facing and registering with theinterface-of'the web and the strip. Theseparated strip endis thenbrought about awinding bobbin, not shown, but preferably about a roller26 to providea continuous system as depicted in FIGURE 1, and then backto applying pressure roller 25. Inits-path from roller 26 backtovapply-"ing roller 25, one ormore cleaning, scrubbing or adhesiveremoving-devicesZ'] may act on the strip 17, asalsoa recoating device 23for applying fresh adhesive to the strip.

16, at which both the web and the strip are still undertension, acutting device 29, which may be rotary asshown, or in the altern ative,stationary, is positioned to; intercept the web at the inner edge 36 ofthe adhering strip, cutting the marginal portion of the web and theadheringstrip from the printed body of the web. The body of the web, asalso the severed marginal portion, continue through pressure rolle'rslSand 16, where the severed marginal portion adhering to strip 17 islikewise rolled on a bobbin or passed around pulley 26, as above stated.7

When util'ning a strip 19 of the marginal lip type, the

applying device shown in FIGURE 6 may be used. This comprisesessentially a cuspate roller 31 rotating about an axis perpendicular tothe path of the web at the application region and having acircumferential cusp 32 at its central portion. The cusp is sopositioned as to enter between the lips 23 and 24 to spread them apart adistance sufficient to receive the web marginal region between them atthe actual region of lateral deflection of the path of strip 19 to applythe strip to the web. Such lateral displacement is obtained, forexample, by a guide 33 which bears against the opposite edge of thestrip just beyond, in the direction of travel of the web and strip, todeflect the strip an amount sufficient to cause the still open lips ofthe strip to overlap the predetermined marginal region of the web. Asthe overlapping region of the web and strip advance, the lips close onthe web clamping it between them. It will be noted that the lip openingbythe cuspate roller extends for quite an appreciable distance forwardand backward along strip 1? from the cusp of the roller 31.

Similarly to remove reinforcing strip 19 from the web at the output sideof the press, a single cuspate roller having a fiat base with the cuspformed at the intersection of the base and the outwardly curved conicalsurface of the roller, is used. However, the separating cuspate rolleris not, like roller 31, positioned laterally of the web but is above theweb and closely adjacent thereto so that the cusp can enter between theupper 'lip 23 of the strip and the upper face of the web, for example,and thus unclamp the web and permit the loosened reinforcing strip to bemoved downwardly, as shown for strip 17 in FIGURES l and 7, withoutinterference.

It is stressed that the embodiments of my invention shown and describedare by way of illustration only and in ,no sense by way of limitation.Various changes may suggest themselves to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope of the instant invention.

What I claim is:

1. The method of reinforcing paper webs in their than the web and of awidth less than that of the web so that the laterally inward portion ofthe strip covers the marginal region of the Web but no portion of thearea thereof to be printed upon and the remaining portion of theflexible strip extends beyond the web edge, guiding the web and adheredreinforcing strip as a unit through the press to the output sidethereof, and severing the reinforcing strip and the thereto adheringlateral marginal region of the web from the web.

2. The method of reinforcing paper webs in their passage throughprinting presses comprising the steps of affixing at the web input ofthe press, to at least one lateral marginal region of the web on aportion of the web surface non-engageable by any of the 'web transportmeans of the press, a linear thin strip of flexible material of greatertensile strength than that of the web and of a width less than thatof'the web so that the whole of the printing area of the webremainsexposed, maintaining the interconnection bet-ween web and strip andguiding them as a unit in the passage of the web through the press andduring the printing on the web, and separating the strip from the web atthe output side of the printing press.

3. The method according to claim 2 in which the linear strip of flexiblematerial is continuous and is returned directly from the press outputside after sepa- '6 ration from the marginal region of the Web to. thepress input side for application to the web.

4. The method according to claim 3 in which an individual linear stripof flexible material is affixed to each marginal region of the web.

5. The method of reinforcing paper webs during their passage throughprinting presses comprising the steps of spreading apart thelongitudinal free edges at one edge of a pair of superposed flexiblestrips of material of greater uniformity and strength than the paper ofthe web, which strips are longitudinally affixed to each other at theopposite edge regions thereof, guiding such superposed strips with itsfree ends spaced apart to an edge region of the paper web so that thepaper edge region is between the free edge regions of the flexiblestrips, closing the free edge regions of the strips upon each other andclamping the web edge region between them in such manner that theprinting portion of the web area remains exposed, maintaining suchclamping during the printing passage of the web through the press, againspreading at least one free edge of the superposed strips from the webto unclamp the web edge region, and guiding the superposed strips in apath other than that in which the web is guided after the lastmentionedspreading.

6. The method according to claim 5 in which the superposed strips arecontinuous and are guided in a path from the output side of the press tothe input side thereof.

7. Apparatus for reinforcing a paper web while in transport through aprinting press and during the printing thereon by the press, comprisinga continuous flexible strip of a material of greater resistance totearing than the paper Web, means for applying the strip to a lateralmarginal region of the web to leave substantially the entire printingarea of the web exposed, the strip being so attached at the input sideof the press to the web that the strip is free of engagement with theWeb transport means of the press, and for maintaining the application ofthe strip to the marginal web portion through the passage thereofthrough the press, means for separating the strip and the web at theoutput side of the press, and means for transporting the separated stripfrom the press output side to the press input side.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the flexible strip is Widerthan a lateral marginal edge portion of the Web and has one surfacethereof coated with an adhesive, the strip applying means includes asystem of guide rollers adapted to present the adhesive coated face ofthe strip to the web marginal portion so that the strip completelycovers the web marginal portion and extends beyond the web edge, andpressure means to adhere the strip portion covering the web marginalportion thereto, and the web and strip separating means includes aroller laterally of the web path about which roller the strip is guided.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the separating means includesa knife edge facing the advancing web" positioned transversely parallelto the plane of motion of the web and at the interface of the strip andweb.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the separating means includea pair of rotary knives positioned perpendicular to, and intersecting,the plane of motion of the web at the press output side and aligned withthe inner edge of the adhered strip on the web, and a pair of pressurerollers behind the knives in the direction of motion of the web.

11. Apparatus according to claim 8 in which the separating meansincludes a knife edge positioned perpendicular to, and extending throughthe plane of web motion at the press output side and aligned with theinner edge of the adhered strip on the web, and a pair 7 pressuredriving rollers, hehind the knife; edge,- in: the direction of webmotion.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which in the return pathof'theseparated strip from the output to the input side of the press,cleansing means are positioneri to .acton the strip to cleanse, roughenand remove in part the adhesive coating thereon,

13. Apparatus, according to claim 8 in which in the return, path of theseparated strip from the output to the input side ofthe, press; meansare provided to re move theadhesive coating from the strip, and meansfbrapplyinga newadhesive. coating to the stripv are posia tioned afterthe removing means in the direction of movement: ofthe, strip.

l4. Apparatusaccording to claim 7 in which the flexible strip is widerthan a longitudinal marginal portion of the web and-comprisestwoelongated superimposed layersz longitudinally joined at one side, thestrip applying-means including means guiding the other and free side ofthe. layers to the adjawntedge of the web, first spacer means enteringthe free side of the layers to space them sufiicientlyapart to permitentry therebetween of the web marginal region, and first lateraldisplacing' means simultaneously with the spacing of the layers to pushthe open sides over the web margin to clamp the latter between thelayers, and the web and strip separating means; includes;v a, secondspacer means entering the free side oithe layers to p c hem.surficiently. unclamp the web margin, and second lateral displacingmeans to remove the strip from the web margin.

'15 Apparatus according to claim 14 in which. each the first and second.spacer means is, a; cuspate roller,

the first spacer cuspate roller having its. circumferential crisp midwaythe height of the roller andv rotating about an axis lateral of the webpath, the second. cuspate roller having its cusp at the base thereof androtating about an axis in the web path, and both cuspate rollers axesbeing perpendicular to the web path.

References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNIT ED, STATES PATENTS

